Apparatuses for toasting bread and the like are appliances which have long been known. The toasting of the bread product typically takes place by the application of heat to heating elements which are positioned on either side of a toasting space. Bread is typically placed in a moveable carriage and is manually lowered between the planar heating elements against the bias of a spring. A locking mechanism generally holds the carriage in this position for a pre-selected period of time until the bread has reached the desired degree of brownness. In many instances, the lowering of the bread product into the heating chamber activates the heating elements. A means, such as a bimetallic sensor, often serves to detect heat and activate a circuit to release the latching mechanism and permit the carriage to move to an upper non-toasting position. The user can typically control the heating cycle by use of a potentiometer toast shade control that varies the time of the toasting cycle to correspond with the degree of brownness selected. When the carriage is moved to the upper position, the heating elements are de-energized.
Some toasters have only one bread support arm on the moveable carriage while others have two or more support arms. Wire grills are often located on the side of each bread support to prevent food items being toasted from engaging the heating elements. In some devices, these wire grills may move away from the stationary heating elements to engage the food item as the food is lowered into the toasting chamber.
Conventional toasters typically employ a pair of fixed, spaced heating elements which include a resistance wire mounted on or wrapped around planar insulating sheets, or alternatively some devices use coiled resisters mounted to form a zigzag pattern. Reflectors may be mounted to direct the radiant heat toward the bread surface.
The drawback of many such toasting devices is that it has not been possible to convey optimum toasting conditions on the bread product, the result of which is typically burned, over-heated, over-dried, or undercooked bread product requiring the user to run additional toasting cycles and closely monitor same for appropriate heating. Furthermore, the heating chambers and operational components of a toaster are typically housed in a single uniform toaster housing molded in the desired shape. Generally, molded toaster housings are made of a metal or durable plastic, and are limited in color and surface appearance selection.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a toaster having optimum toasting capabilities that also provides the user with a means of changing the design and appearance of the device.